North Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)

North Thanet
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of North Thanet in Kent.
Location of Kent within England.
County	Kent
Electorate	67,110 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Roger Gale (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Thanet West, Thanet East
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

North Thanet (also known as Thanet North) is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

North Thanet and South Thanet were created by a rearrangement of the former Thanet West and Thanet East constituencies in 1983, which in turn had been created in 1974 by the splitting of the single Isle of Thanet seat.

Boundaries

North Thanet constists of the northern part of Thanet district (Margate, Westgate-on-Sea, Birchington-on-Sea, and the villages of Acol, St Nicholas-at-Wade and Sarre) plus the town of Herne Bay in the City of Canterbury.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Kent, the Boundary Commission for England has made major changes to the existing constituency boundaries as a consequence of population changes. In particular, Cliftonville (East and West) are being transferred to the South Thanet constituency.

The electoral wards used in the formation of the modified North Thanet constituency are:

• From the district of Thanet - Birchington North, Birchington South, Dane Valley, Garlinge, Margate Central, Salmestone, Thanet Villages, Westbrook, and Westgate-on-Sea;
• From the city of Canterbury - Greenhill and Eddington, Herne and Broomfield, Heron, Marshside, Reculver and West Bay.

History

North Thanet has been held consistently by the Conservative Party, with Roger Gale representing the constituency since its creation in 1983. His Labour opponent in the 1983 election was Cherie Blair, whose husband, Tony Blair, was Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [2]	Party
	1983	Roger Gale	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: North Thanet[3][4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	22,826	52.7	+4.7
	Labour	Michael Britton	9,298	21.5	-11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Laura Murphy	8,400	19.4	+3.8
	UKIP	Rosamund Parker	2,819	6.5	+2.6
Majority			13,528	31.2
Turnout			43,343	63.2	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: North Thanet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,699	49.6	-0.7
	Labour	Iris Johnston	14,065	32.2	-2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Mark Barnard	6,279	14.4	+3.4
	UKIP	Timothy Stocks	1,689	3.9	+1.6
Majority			7,634	17.5
Turnout			43,732	60.1	1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

General Election 2001: North Thanet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,050	50.3	+6.2
	Labour	James Stewart Laing	14,400	34.4	-4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Seth Proctor	4,603	11.0	-0.4
	UKIP	John Moore	980	2.3	+1.4
	Independent	David Shortt	440	1.1	N/A
	National Front	Thomas Holmes	395	0.9	N/A
Majority			6,650	15.9
Turnout			41,868	59.0	-9.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: North Thanet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	21,586	44.1	-13.1
	Labour	Iris Johnston	18,820	38.4	+14.9
	Liberal Democrat	Paul Kendrick	5,576	11.4	-6.3
	Referendum Party	M Chambers	2,535	5.2
	UKIP	J E Haines	438	1.1
Majority			2,766	5.7	-28
Turnout			48,955	68.8	+7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-14

General Election 1992: North Thanet[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	30,867	57.2	−0.8
	Labour	AM Bretman	12,657	23.5	+6.8
	Liberal Democrat	Ms. JL Phillips	9,563	17.7	−5.6
	Green	Mrs HF Dawe	873	1.6	−0.4
Majority			18,210	33.7	−1.0
Turnout			53,960	76.0	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.8

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: North Thanet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	29,225	58.03
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	N R M Cranston	11,745	23.32
	Labour	A M Bretman	8,395	16.67
	Green	D R Condor	996	1.98
Majority			17,480	34.71
Turnout			50,361	72.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: North Thanet
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Gale	26,801	58.44
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	W MacMillan	12,256	26.72
	Labour	Cherie Booth	6,482	14.13
	BNP	B Dobing	324	0.71
Majority			14,051	32.37
Turnout			45,863	70.02
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Kent

Notes and references

1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
3. ^ Thanet North, Guardian
4. ^ Gale reselected for Thanet North, This is Kent
5. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 

Coordinates: 51°22.5′N 1°16′E / 51.375°N 1.267°E / 51.375; 1.267